Railway-spike.



HUBERT E. HARRIS, OF MACON, GEORGIA.

RAILWAY-SPIKE.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

Application iiled June 17, 1916. Serial No. 104,244.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HUBERT E. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Macon, in the county of Bibb and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Spikes; and I do hereby declare .the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the 1nvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon,

.which form a part of this specification.

`This invention relates to new and useful improvements in spikes for fastening railway ties and consists of a simple and eflicient device of this nature so arranged that the spike will securely hold the rail in place and, at the same time, providing means whereby the spike may be held from loosening from the tie.

More specifically, the invention consists of a spike having a cam edge adapted to force the head of the spike laterally as it approaches its inner limit and frictionally engage the edge of the flange of a rail.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view through a rail showing the spike as applied to the rail and tie.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the spike.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates a railway rail having a ange B, and C is a tie upon which the flange rests. The spike is designated by letter D and is provided with a head H of the usual construction and its opposite end is tapering and adapted to be driven into the tie in the manner shown. @ne edge of the spike adjacent to the head is provided with a recess F adapted to receive the edge of the flange of a rail and one end of the recess terminates in a shoulder I.

It will be noted upon reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, that the recess F, formed in the inner edge of the shank portion of the spike, extends a short distance below the under face of the flange of the rail, the spike being held firm by the reaction of the cam portion E against the fiber of the tie, tending to hold the vertical wall of the recess against the edge of the flange of the rail. The frequent passages of trains over the rails of a railway will cause the bottoms of the rails to wear down into the ties, and when the portion of the tie underneath the rail wears down opposite the end I of the recess, any further wearing down of the rail into the tie will cause the spike to be 'driven farther into the tie by the bottom flange of the rail pressing against the end I, and which will tend to force the cam portion E against the fiber of the tie, compacting the fiber, and causing the vertical edge of the recess to bind against the edge of the flange of the rail, and thus holding the spike from loosening. By this action of the rail pounding against the end I of the recess under the great pressure of a train passing over the rails, an automatic tightening means is afforded for the spike, which action will continue with the continuous wearing down of the tie.

l/Vhat I claim to be new is In combination with a railway rail having a flange, a spike with a laterally extending head, and provided with a recess upon the inner edge of the shank of the spike adjacent to said head and adapted to receive the flange of the rail, said recess being longer than the thickness of the edge of the flange, the edge of the spike opposite and below said recess being cam shaped, the under surface of the flange of the rail being designed, as the tie underneath the rail wears down under pressure of passing trains, to contact with the lower end wall of the recess and force the spike into the tie, as the cam portion of the tie compacts the fiber of the latter, serving to hold the vertical wall of the recess against the edge of the flange of the rail, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HUBERT E. HARRIS.

Witnesses:

A. L. HoueH, FRANKLIN H. HOUGH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

